I've talked about this author in a few previous posts, and I finally got around to reading book four in the Demon Cycle series which is an intimidating tome. Nevertheless, I devoured the book in a little under a week. It's not difficult when the writing is this good and the characters are so believable and compelling. The world build in the books is expansive and refreshing - I love the east meets west take that the author explores. A relatively bloodthirsty English backdrop of arrogant merchant class rulers, pitted against a desert civilization spanning twelves tribes and ruled by a warrior priest - these people are ruled by strict religious beliefs and a warriors culture bred by an eternal struggle against the demons who live in the core of the world. That stat breakdown tho Title: The Skull Throne Author: Peter V Brett Published: 2015 Genre: Fantasy Pages: 680 Finish Date: 27/04/2017 Read If You Enjoy: Fantasy, epic world builds, martial arts, war campaigning, magic, demons This rich presented world is populated by people who struggle against the worst of survival odds, against each other, clashing religious beliefs, societal norms and fear of the misunderstood. Magic plays a huge role in how people look at each other, from fear of it to mastery of it and beyond. The books are sprinkled with bards and gypsies, old feuds, old loves, betrayal, martial mastery, vast harems... There are a lot of characters and sometimes it gets a little foggy in terms of whose kid belongs to which wife and who hates who at what moment, but the main set of characters remain strong and flawed and so very very interesting it is hard to finish a chapter and move on to the point of view of someone else. Brett writes a good chapter end and a damn good cliff hanger. Book three literally ended with the main dudes falling off a cliff together. Spoiler alert: they both survive. But DAMN, I had to wait like two years before I found out what happened. Granted, most of that time was me procrastinating the start and subsequent finish of the next book, but STILL. As always it is refreshing and almost like being given a treat that every, and I mean every, female character in these books are KICK. ASS. In every way, in every walk of life, there is a woman fighting adversity and struggling to not only survive but thrive in any way they possibly can. Women raised in a society where their voices are expected not to be heard, where their lives are meant to be spent in submission upon pain of death at best, they use whatever means available to them in order to make the absolute best out of a clearly shit situation. Inevera, a basket weavers daughter, manages to make herself into the most powerful woman in all of Krasia, climbing to the top of a religious hierarchy and commanding the most powerful magics she can lay her hands on. She becomes instrumental in the success of Krasia's leadership, also forging powerful alliances with western characters from Thesa. She is a masterful web weaver and her force of will shows in every move she makes. Herb Gatherer Leesha, basically a hedge witch, starts out as a shy village girl who falls into an apprenticeship as a healer with a shunned woman. This sort of thing is often the case with healers - churches drum up fear of this people as natural science undermines their faith but small towns and villages rely on these women to soothe ailments, deliver children, stitch people back together and keep secrets. Leesha becomes a fierce and independent woman who refuses to cleave to the affections of one man simply because they express them, and be kept in the manner society expects. Eventually she becomes privy to the secrets of magic imparted by the knowledge of keeping demons at bay during the long nights when they rise from the center of the world. She becomes entwined intimately with the world of the Krasians and falls into a position where she is caught between the two sides. I wont go into too much detail of the huge fucking mess she creates all around her, but she's a wonderfully flawed character that I admire for her fierceness and her willingness to sacrifice for those she loves. These are just two of my favorite female characters from the main arc that tallies up to around five or six powerful women just striding around pulling strings and making a big deal out of the horribly flawed ways of the world. I will recommend this series to anyone who'd care to pick up a book - I know they look intimidatingly large as far as novels go, but once you pick them up, it's really difficult to put them down. Your arms will get tired but your brain will be going a mile a minute! Ultimately, this is book four in a five book series and while I'm waiting for the last one to be released in August this year, I'll go ahead and rate this a 9 out of 10. Some really violently unexpected shit goes down in the last, say, three chapters of the book, characters you thought would just never, fucking, die, DO. Do yourself a favour, pick up the first book and get involved.
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